Constitution and By-Laws

From Nabor House's beginning, the men knew that a constitution was necessary to guide and govern the organization. So on Nov. 21, 1938, the president set the wheels in motion by appointing a committee to prepare the framework for one and bring it before the members for consideration. The committee's proposal was presented at a house meeting Dec. 12, 1938. After a week to think about and discuss it informally, the first constitution was adopted Dec. 19, 1938. Although it was a roughly formulated document and incomprehensive when compared to today's needs, it served well as a beginning governance instrument and a starting point.

Early in 1939, additions to the constitution to keep it abreast of the organization's needs and developments appeared to be in order. Unfortunately, some records were lost during WWII, and exactly when the first revision was adopted is not clear. However, it appears to have been in the spring of 1939. In that revision, honorary and alumni membership were added. Two more revisions were soon made, one in 1940 and the other in 1942. Nothing was done to the document until 1946 because of the intervening war.

A sidelight is worth noting about the April 8, 1940, revision. In it, a new article opened the way for chapters to be established on other campuses. That was in response to interest expressed by other people to expand into other schools. The mechanism is still available for this to occur, but interest in doing so is not widespread.

Major revisions and additions were made and adopted Oct. 10, 1946. Among these was the creation of two organizations, the Fraternity and Illinois Chapter. As a result of this, a man automatically becomes a member of both the Chapter and the Fraternity when he is initiated. He, as has been true from the beginning, moves from active to alumni membership status upon graduation or leaving school for any reason. The revision also provided that Nabor House Fraternity would be the owner of the house and lot and would rent them to the Illinois Chapter on a contract basis beginning Jan. 1, 1947.

Thus, the constitution serves both the Fraternity and Illinois Chapter. But following the 1946 revision, the Chapter has had its own set of bylaws. This revision also assigned broad duties and considerable power to the Fraternity Board, resulting in it having a truly active, functional role for the first time, particularly in carrying on the Fraternity's day-to-day business.

The constitution was revised for the fifth time in 1951. Seven amendments were added over the next several years. But like the previous revisions, the fifth also became inadequate. So, in 1969, a wholesale revision was made to bring it up to date. With four amendments added in 1981, it remains in effect today.